Therapy For Embodiment: How to Feel More Connected to Your Body.

What Does Therapy for Embodiment Mean?

Many people are familiar with psychotherapy or talk therapy, where the goal is to help us work through our emotions, thoughts, and behaviors to help us have better mental health. This is common for treating depression, anxiety, and lots of other types of mental health struggles. People often seek mental health therapy to help them manage their mood, heal from trauma, and to improve their relationships. Something more people are talking about recently is therapy for feeling more connected to your body which is called embodiment therapy or embodiment interventions if it is part of a more holistic therapy approach.  

People often find themselves coping with the stressors of life by using a variety of coping skills, and some of these coping skills are not always the healthiest that can lead us to not being connected to our bodies. Therapy can help you feel more embodied and help you reconnect with your body as part of your healing journey.

Common Examples of Unhealthy Coping Skills That I see in Both My Therapy Practice in San Diego (and all of California) and Phoenix (and all of Arizona) :

• Drinking and using drugs

• Excessive use of food

• Excessive use of exercise

• Scrolling mindlessly on social media

• Watching lots of TV

There is usually no harm in having one adult beverage or watching some TV to wind down after a long day, but excess is where people find themselves in to that territory of not having a healthy outlet for their feelings. These feelings can be stress, boredom, anxiety, depression, and other feelings. Work might be stressful lately, lots to do and not enough time. Family life might be a lot, and all you want to do is veg out and not think for a while. I get it. Been there. We want to have balance though, because, without balance and the use of healthier emotional regulation, our minds can start to split from our bodies.

Our bodies are great because our bodies are constantly telling us information. When we are hungry, tired, and annoyed. Listening to our bodies can help us take steps to manage feelings and sensations before they get to be too big. It is easier to manage feelings when they are at a level 3 or 4 instead of level 10. The problem is that many of us push ourselves to our limits and then our bodies have to scream to get out attention. 

A lot of the work that I do with people, in both my therapy practice in San Diego (and all of California) and Phoenix (and all of Arizona),  is helping them listen to their bodies before we get to that level 10. This can help with anxiety, depression, and those recovering from trauma. I often use parts work, or IFS therapy in the way I work with people, helping them befriend the internal parts of them that have lots to say. There might be a part of you who has been pretty loud. Like an inner critic or that people pleaser and it can actually be more beneficial to slow down and get to know this part. To work with it instead of against it. This is often a game changer for people because a lot of us did not come from homes where we were taught to be kind to ourselves in this way. Feelings are not bad and feelings like anger are so important.

So What Exactly is Therapy for Embodiment?

There are lots of different types of mental and behavioral health therapies out there. I like to think about therapy being in two broad categories, both of which have several more specific approaches. You have your “top-down” approach where you look at your thoughts first and then your feelings to see how they impact your behaviors. The idea is that you can shift your thoughts to help shift your feelings which will in turn shift your behaviors. The other kind of therapy is “bottom-up” therapy where you address body sensations and feelings. This is often more internal and less “talky” but the idea is that when we can reconnect with our bodies in this way, we will then have more insight into how to make changes in our bodies. 

Often people find use in a blend of the approaches. It can be nice to explore our thoughts and to work on addressing what is going on in the body as well. This is a more integrative approach to therapy, that can help people achieve deep and long-lasting results. As a trauma-informed therapist, the embodiment is huge. I often explain to clients how memories work. Memories and past traumas are stored in our bodies not just in our minds. Therefore it makes sense to heal not only how our way of thinking around the trauma but also to heal our body's reactions when we think about the trauma.

In both my therapy practice in San Diego (and all of California) and Phoenix (and all of Arizona) when the focus is helping someone become more embodied, I use EMDR therapy and IFS Therapy to help people connect with what they are noticing as we process present-day stressors and past traumas. So many clients have expressed how powerful IFS and EMDR sessions have been in helping them heal and really rewire their nervous systems. As A therapist I truly feel like it is magic and I can feel the shift with my clients. Truly powerful. 

In my therapy practice, not every session will be a reprocessing session or a session where we do deeper bodywork, as some sessions might be processing what had happened in the last session and if the client has had any new insights over the last week. I always stress to my clients that the goal is to help them reconnect with themselves in a deeper way, to let go of messages that no longer serve them, because then they will be able to have increased insight into how they would like to live their life moving forward. It is hard work but so worth it. As a Latina therapist working with lots of fellow BIPOC folks, this is something that is so important for people struggling with racial identity. Doing therapy in this way helps clients finally have a grip on their anxious thoughts and the behaviors they end up regretting, among other things. The key is to be compassionate yet firm with that inner child to help them truly heal. 

Re-wiring your “Danger-Danger” System With Trauma Informed Therapy in San Diego and Phoenix (anywhere in CA and AZ)

Think about all the times when you have felt a rush through your body, you likely were feeling your body's “danger-danger” system getting activated. This is so important for our survival, however, if that path in our minds becomes our baseline, then we might default to it constantly. This can make it hard to regulate our feelings, make meaningful connections, and have a life where we feel truly present. This is why therapy that also work with the somatic symptoms (body stuff) is so important. There even more specilalized emobdiment type therapist out there. SO important to do your research and speak with a therapist to see which is right for you.

Working with a therapist with knowledge of trauma and the body is so important for healing. In addition, there are lots of things you can do to support healing as your journey with reconnecting with your body. Below are my top go-to activities that help increase the mind-body connection which is so important have gone through trauma and big life stressors. Pain is something we all feel in life and I hope these activities are useful in your journey of healing and continued awareness. 

Therapeutic Activities for Embodiment that I recommend to Therapy Clients San Diego (and all of California) and Phoenix (and all of Arizona) 

• Mindfulness (not just on your meditation pillow)

• Thinking about mindfulness as a way of life. Slow down and check in with yourself a few times a day and see where you are at. Do you need something? Is there something that you can give yourself (water, deeper breath, a kind phrase) before you carry on with your day?

• Walking without music 

• Just walk and notice your thoughts from an observer's mind. Notice if there are areas in your body that activate when you have certain thoughts. And just notice that without judgment.

• Yoga and gentle practices

• Yoga is so helpful for being able to notice and nurture the connection between your mind, body, and spirit. Often people struggle with yoga in the beginning. It is often too slow and can feel awkward since you are not being told to push yourself. A lot of the language used in yoga classes by yoga instructors is vastly different from other types of exercise coaches. Guidance from a yoga teacher can help you develop a deeper connection with your body.

• A trauma-informed massage therapist

• This really requires a professional who is skilled in this area. Often it is important to have a treatment team of a massage therapist working alongside a mental health therapist to help the client see the results they are after. 

• Intuitive eating

• Especially for those who have struggled with eating, whether it is an eating disorder or anxiety making it difficult to eat, intuitive healing can help you re-nurture that connection with your body. I highly recommend working with a dietitian or a psychologist who specializes in this are.

• Breathwork

• Breathwork can really help a person feel more connected with their bodies. Even though breathing is something we do without thinking, often we hold our breaths when we are tense or anxious. Breathwork can help people heal on a deep level helping our baseline not be a place of crisis constantly. 

*It is important to consult with your doctor before switching up your routine and beginning any of the above mentioned!

Embodiment therapy and interventions are fantastic for deeper healing. It is often a game changer for those trying to heal deep inner child wounds, deep habits, and behaviors that are getting in the way of the life that they would like to live. Please go slow and gentle, healing is a lifetime journey and the work is really never done. 

Warmly,

Elisa

Hey there, I’m Elisa Blair!

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist + Founder of Mindfully Minding Me Therapy.

My specialty is couples counseling, especially for those who are BIPOC, in interracial partnerships, 1 and 2 gens wanting to break family cycles to step into a more peaceful way of doing life. I also offer depth work with individuals, helping people rewire their nervous system because traditional talk therapy sometimes is not enough when we are dealing with generational trauma.

I work with people all over San Diego, from Little Italy to Chula Vista, to La Jolla, and really all over California since I practice 100% online therapy. That means I can see people from Los Angeles to Fresno to San Jose, and San Francisco. And all while my clients get the convenience and comfort of having therapy right in their own living room.

I work with people all over Arizona from Flagstaff to Phoenix to Tucson 100% online therapy. Since I am dually licensed, I can see people who reside in both states or find that they travel often. And all while my clients get the convenience and comfort of having therapy right in their own living room.

Check out my about page to see if we are the right fit, explore my specialties page to see if I can help you break generational patterns and step into a more peaceful life. Ready to set up a free consultation?